CNN, MS NOW and Politico sue after White House revokes credentials

CNN, MS NOW and Politico have filed a lawsuit against the Trump White House after their journalists’ credentials were revoked without notice or process. The networks said the move followed objections to their reporting and led to suspension of their coverage of the president’s activities.

In a joint statement on Monday, the three media organisations said they were pursuing legal action to defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports. They accused the White House of revoking their journalists’ credentials because it objected to their reporting, a step they said threatens press freedom and the public if left unchallenged.

The networks also announced that effective immediately, the television press pool will not cover designated pool duties for President Trump. The White House had prevented CNN from fulfilling its pool duties during Trump’s trip to New York, and no replacement pool will be put in place.

The White House Correspondents’ Association had managed the press pool for over a century until February, when the White House took control of it. The chair of the television pool, who is also Fox News’s Washington bureau chief, communicated the decision to withdraw from the pool via email to members on September 21.

The withdrawal followed an incident where journalists from MS NOW, CNN and Politico were barred from entering the White House over the weekend, coinciding with the implementation of the ban. The networks said this prohibition violates the First Amendment rights of their reporters and their constitutional protections under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Former President Trump denied instituting an assault on the free press, stating on his social media platform that he was targeting "fake news". However, the media organisations maintain that the Constitution does not allow any government official to deprive the press of their First Amendment rights without notice or due process based solely on dislike of their reporting.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court in Washington, seeking a swift ruling on the matter. The networks stressed the public’s vital interest in receiving accurate and independent information about its government and warned that the cumulative effect of recent actions threatens that principle.

Other media outlets may join the lawsuit, according to the statement from the three organisations.